Production of no-carrier-added 186Re via deuteron induced reactions on isotopically enriched 186W

Rhenium-186 was produced from the reaction induced by 16 MeV deuterons on isotopically enriched 186W metal powder target. Following its separation from 187W, 183Ta and the bulk of target materials 186W through an acid alumina column, the 186Re was converted to HNO3 solution through an anion exchange column, or to ammonia solution by extracting with N-235-dimethylbenzene, and finally the no-carrier-added 186Re saline solution was obtained. The radionuclidic purity of 186Re was >99.9% and the isotopic impurities were mainly 183Re (5.0 × 10−3%) and 184gRe (4.6 × 10−2%). The experimental thick-target yield of 186Re was determined to be approximately 529 μCi/μA h and the overall chemical recovery yield was >80%.